M & A Activity for Southeast Regional Banks

M&A speculation for banks heats up

Enlarge

 

 

Bond Street Holdings, a private equity firm in Weston with $3.2 billion in assets, has resumed buying banks, including the $773 million-asset Atlantic Coast Financial in Jacksonville.
Bond Street, which operates Florida Community Bank, acquired eight failed banks from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in 2010 and 2011, including the failed Cortez Community Bank in Brooksville in July 2011.
The bank stopped its M&A activity until last month’s deal for Atlantic Coast, a report in American Banker said.
Kent Ellert, president and CEO of Florida Community Bank, told American Banker that the bank is aiming for $5 billion in assets by the end of this year, an increase of about 20 percent over its assets when the Atlantic Coast deal is complete. Asset growth will occur through both organic gain as well as deals for open banks and failures, the report said.
The bank considered itself a “skilled and friendly acquirer” and is actively look at other opportunities, Ellert told American Banker.

this is an excerpt from The Tampa Bay Business Journal
http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/